HYDERABAD: Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party’s chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said on Saturday construction of six canals over the Indus River would be tantamount to pushing 60 million people towards the edge of the precipice.

Pakistan Peoples Party always took anti-Sindh decisions and whenever the party came to power the province had to pay its price and this time it was paying a heavy cost for Asif Ali Zardari’s presidency with its legitimate share in water, he said.

Dr Magsi was speaking at a large sit-in organised by his party workers at Hatri bypass in protest against the construction of six canals on the Indus River. The protesters including men, women and children blocked the highway, causing traffic gridlock for several hours. They were raising vociferous slogans against the canals’ project.

He reminded Mr Zardari that he had reached the presidency with the votes of Sindhi people and if he took any decisions against the interests of the province people would never forgive him.

He said the six canals project would turn Sindh into a graveyard. As long as a single Sindhi was alive he would not allow construction of any dam or canal on the river.

He said that Sindh had waged stiff resistance when Mian Nawaz Sharif had announced construction of Kalabagh Dam immediately after the country went nuclear in 1998. Mr Sharif had to face defeat at all levels and finally he had to withdraw that highly divisive announcement, he said.

Afterwards, he said, late Gen Musharraf dreamt of building the controversial reservoir but people of Sindh did not allow him to harbour such harmful thoughts on which he desired to act. The incumbent prime minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, too must learn a lesson from the past, he said.

He said that Sindh had the right over Indus River’s water but no past agreement on water with the province had been honoured, it had been betrayed time and again and its water had been stolen.

Dr Magsi observed that 12 MAF water needed to be released downstream Kotri Barrage but it was not done and Indus delta was allowed to get destroyed by sea intrusion, which was fast devouring fertile farmland.

Moreover, water for agricultural purposes was not available, pushing the farm sector to complete destruction. If more canals were built, he asserted, Sindh would be completely destroyed and it would affect every living being.

He pointed out that if rulers remained adamant on going ahead with the project it would have serious impact on Pakistan. If the PPP was not part of anti-Sindh projects then why it did not speak to federal government as its ally on such destructive steps, he said.

He vowed to continue the agitation till the government shelved the canals project and said similar protests would be held in Sukkur on Nov 20 and in Karachi outside Governor’s House on Nov 24.

Hoat Khan Gadhi, Nisar Keerio, Dr Abdul Hameed Memon, Qadir Channa and Dr Ahmed Noonari also spoke at the gathering.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2024